The prophet Jeremiah asked 2700 years ago, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." (13:23) In other words, can a person change his or her basic nature? Can the cruel become kind, the vulgar become refined, the coward become courageous?

It is an important question. Few of us are all we want to be. Is there any hope for us? Albert Einstein once said that it is easier to denature plutonium than it is to denature the evil spirit of man. Will Rogers once said, "You can ™t say that civilization doesn ™t advance...for in every war they kill you in a new way." In 1961, Bruce Catton, editor of AMERICAN HERITAGE and an authority on the Civil War, spoke on the theme, "What 1861 has to say to 1961." In his address he emp…